St. Louis County

POVERTY BY AGE

While they say little about economic ups and downs in the decade between
Censuses, income and poverty data provide us with economic "snapshots" of
an area at the time of enumeration that can in turn be compared with
economic data gathered from earlier Censuses. Poverty status, as measured in this chart, is determined by Poverty Thresholds, which take into account a number of factors,
including income
and family size
and structure.
For example, the 2000 Poverty Threshold for a family of four in the continental United States with two related children was 17,463. However, Poverty Thresholds are misleading because they do not provide an accurate picture of what a “poor” family’s life is like. According to the National Center for Children in poverty, most families of four would have to make twice
their assigned Poverty Threshold in order to provide their children with basic necessities, such as housing, food, and health care.

Poverty by Age, 1990 and 2000

1990

2000

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Total Population*

975,567

100.00%

997,284

100.00%

In Poverty

54,603

5.60%

68,552

6.87%

Not in Poverty

920,964

94.40%

928,732

93.13%

11 Years and Under

164,789

16.89%

164,481

16.49%

In Poverty

13,061

1.34%

16,961

1.70%

Not in Poverty

151,728

15.55%

147,520

14.79%

12 to 17 Years

76,266

7.82%

88,386

8.86%

In Poverty

5,342

0.55%

7,431

0.75%

Not in Poverty

70,924

7.27%

80,955

8.12%

18 to 64 Years

612,555

62.79%

608,651

61.03%

In Poverty

28,575

2.93%

36,901

3.70%

Not in Poverty

583,980

59.86%

571,750

57.33%

65 Years and Above

121,957

12.50%

135,766

13.61%

In Poverty

7,625

0.78%

7,259

0.73%

Not in Poverty

114,332

11.72%

128,507

12.89%

* The total population is the population for which poverty status is determined. Therefore, the total in this table should not be expected to match the total population in the population growth topic.